Gulf security أمن الخليج العربي

الأحد، 30 ديسمبر، 2007

Kuwait denied on December 29, 2007 that its naval troops and fighter jets targeted a site for a company from Holland operating in Iraqi waters and underlined its commitment to nternational laws and good bilateral ties.

Officials affirmed Kuwait's commitment to the relevant international charters and resolutions as well as good-neighborly relations. Five years ago renewing accusations like this against Kuwait by the ruling Baath party would seem normal, for the Iraqi leadership lived on Iraq-Kuwait border disputes and other factors of instability, but accusations by the present elected civil democratic government seem questionable.

Iraq Accusations Timeline

Theft of Iraqi oil, border disputes and smuggling were the reasons Iraq gave for attacking Kuwait for the last 50 years. In 1938 tensions resurfaced with a climax when King Ghazi launched a cold war by media campaign against Kuwait, among the claims were the border issue and smuggling. He was setting the stage for Iraqi demands that included favorable trade agreements and unlimited Iraqi worker’s permits. Kuwait rejected the charges and the demands which escalated the tension between the two countries until the death of the Iraqi king. In an attempt to control the Kuwaiti islands of Warba and Bubiyan, Iraq launches a limited military offensive on AlSametah police station five miles inside the Kuwaiti border On March 20, 1973, the islands are strategically located around the Iraqi oil port of Umm Qasr .

What Does Iraq Want?

After 1995 Iraq-Kuwait border was not as vaguely defined as it used to be. Along with land boundaries Umm Qasr port was well defined by the United Nations marking the Iraqi access to the Gulf. Iraq now thinks that their access to the Gulf is too narrow and the new Accusations will bring Kuwait to the negotiation table in hopes of gaining any land from Kuwait regardless of the Security Council Resolution No 833 on the demarcation of the border between the State of Kuwait and Iraq and ignoring the previous bad-neighborly relations that came as a result of such accusations.